>> we did not expect the house to be so packed tonight, so i apologize for lack of seating in the back. i am inspector john wrote a and chief inspector secretary. -- john monroe. i would like to welcome you to the 2012 middle of valor ceremony. can we all please rise for the

pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. into the republic, for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. you can have a seat. i would like to acknowledge and introduce some of the people we have on the stage with us. first, at the police commission president, thomas mazzucco, commissioner kingsley, paul henderson from the mayor's office as representing because the mayor was unable to come tonight. also, we have commissioner loftus. also, the command at steep. d staff.

deputy chief james that lake, lyn tomioka, leanora militello, and next to lyn commander biel, corrier from field comman. i would like to introduce chief grigory p. suhr. >> good evening, and hopefully lyn still wants to be your boss

tomorrow. i know it is quiet and there are a lot of kids in the room. that is terrific. the medal of valor ceremony is the best event that we get to attend. it is when there is a crisis, emergency, extreme danger and takes everything you have to go forward, and everyone else that would want to run away, the people you will hear about tonight not only went forward, but they stood their ground, they saved lives, they promoted public safety, and i have been attending the medal of valor ceremonies as a captain since 1996, and i can honestly tell you the stories you will hear tonight in the roster we are born to go down tonight is the most impressive night of the medal of valor ceremonies i have had in however many years. it really is something.

tonight is for a officers to recognize them, but also for their families and officers that are not necessarily going to be recognized, because it shows what they're capable of. san francisco's finest, if you will. they just do it, they do all the time. we get used to it, because they do it without a segment thought. than they are embarrassed for the recognition. if you are parent, child, a loved one, whatever, it is so important that this is also for you for lending us if these fine men and women for their time when they are serving the city as san francisco police officers, because they will -- when you hear these stories, it will take your breath away. nobody would blame them for not

if they had, and they did not. you have heard enough of me, so let's get to storytelling and recognition. thank you all for coming. [applause] >> thank you, chief. commissioner president mazzucco: . president mazzucco: thank you. after watching your vision, i am a little nervous. i drove with him today. on behalf of the san francisco police commission, i want to thank you all for coming here this evening. it is an honor to stand before the police officers this evening, and i am humbled by it. when you hear their acts of valor, a chill will run up your spine. these men and women who have joined the police department to serve the city took an extra step, and i was actually the commissioner president during the voting for each and every

one of these metals. a little bit about the process. in this process the only people allowed in the room are civil service capt. and above. id was allowed in the room, and it was an honor to be there. inspector monroe was preside pr. interestingly, after every presentation they turn to the officers and say, do you have anything to add? not one officer added anything other than we were doing our job. we were doing what we were trained to do. i am thinking about how many people watch these action tv shows, things that are not real, and i am listening to what really happened. people watch reality shows where people deucedly games to impress people. i am sitting here saying this is impressive. these men and women risk their lives for the city.

it goes through the process in the command staff boats. they use little marbles. there are black marbles and gold marbles. they bowed. they get two-thirds of the boat from the command staff. these members of the command staff, many are very decorated. they make this decision not likely. then they bring the officer's back and they get a standing ovation from command staff. that is one of the most impressive things you will ever see. i want to think the family members. -- thank the family of members. you made them who they are. men and women who are willing to risk their lives to protect the public. there is something special about them, and you deserve the credit for it. tonight i would not be surprised if many of you do not know the true story until tonight. there will be a chill running up

your spine when you hear about what they do. you will be very proud of them. we're so proud of what they do. i want to send the family members for making them who they are in sharing them with us and sharing them with us. these are our heroes, and i really appreciate it. [applause] >> thank you. now the represent hitters -- representative from the mayor's office, paul henderson. to >> paul henderson. >> this is one of my favorite events to come to, only because it reminds me at my very core why we all do the work that we

do. i think it is one of those things where you see reality tv. i see a lot of news for you could have the story or get a perspective of the story of what is going on in the streets every day. rarely do we hear the story from the men and women on the streets protecting us every day, and there is always a story about the job people are doing that is so impressive. tonight is a culmination of the stories we get to hear about the dollar and integrity and of bravery and courage from the men and women that served us every single day. i try to remember the stories that i hear at this event throughout the rest of the year when i'm watching the news, when i am reading the newspaper, when

i am at meetings listening to what people are saying about public safety. this really does serve as an inspiration to me personally and to the city of san francisco, which is why i am here on behalf of the mayor. i am here tonight, and i brought proclamations for each and every one of the awardees on behalf of the mayor and city of sanford says go to thank you for the trip -- work you do and for being an inspiration to all of us who are working in public safety to continue what you were doing. you really are the modern-day heroes. thank you very much. it is a pleasure to be here and in honor. -- an honor. [applause] >> thank you, paul. the chiefs took a third of my pager was going to talk about. the commission took the other third. that gives me time to acknowledge people that i saw here this evening. thank you.

some of the retired, micki griffin, a larry ryan. there is one gentleman here that i have to mention. that is deputy chief santos. thank you. [applause] this is not the kind of ceremony that he will ast we ask you to l the end to applause. i want you to jump up and down. do not read anything, because we will have to pay for it. but the know we appreciate them. i'm going to get right to it.

first up, john garrity. i would like to have sergeant beretta, brian, morris and johnson up on the stage, please. capt. garity will redo the award citation. -- will read the award citation. >> good evening. on wednesday, october 10, circuit brother brian and melissa morris and merck mulligan and officer james

johnson of the central station responded to a fire at 8 -- 824 height street in downtown san francisco. officers found the first and second story buildings involved in flames. leaving the residents, many of them students inside the six- story building in grave danger. officers immediately entered the building and began evaluating the evidence, pounding on doors and alerting them there was a fire. many of them were still asleep. essentially they were forced to withdraw from the building because the heat was so intense in the building. the fire department was still in route to the fire. not until the fire department arrived did it take over the evacuation of the fire personnel were ordered out of the building onto the street for the structure at 824 high street,

and asphalt and some of the fire equipment had to be moved because the heat was so intense it was buckling the street and the water pipes. the fire spread quickly and started the fire department personnel were overwhelmed. buildings on either side started to go up in the flames. already the buildings were starting to go. the above officers entered the building to evacuate more students and even some in the adjacent building. approximately 150 residents were evacuated from the buildings through the smoke and haze. the ceilings bubbling, and the heat from the bookshelves were still smoldering when they exited the building. many of the residents were asleep, and where they were in

mortal danger. if they have not been opened, there would have suffocated and many would have passed away in the fire. upon conferring with the fire chief, i learned there where no deaths in the fire, no serious injuries. we credit the actions of these officers for saving many lives and that fire. when i was a little boy, my grandfather told me a story -- grandmother told me a story that a fire has no conscious at all. these officers, from their historic actions and volunteers -- the call for many volunteers to go into the fire that night, and only the officers on the scene into the fire without any kind of protective fire equipment, gloves, or masks. they save the lives of many

students and people. they represent the highest standard of service the san francisco police department has to offer. [applause] >> for this at the brewery, they will be presented the bronze medal of valor. [applause]

>> i would like to call up a captain stephen tacchini, and

officers jones and tapang. good evening. i would like to introduce officer brian jones, and eric tapang. on saturday, september 17, 2011 what working uniform patrol in the broadway corridor of columbus and broadway, officers were summoned. did the to and ask for their assistance in obtaining a subject that appeared to be acting suspicious, and was possibly wanted for criminal act. officers approached the subject.

as they did so, they noticed he was rolling a marijuana cigarette in his hand. officer tapang remove the cigarette from the man's hand. his immediate response was to flee from officers. saturday night on broadway is pure chaos at 2:00 in the morning. hundreds of people leaving the nightclubs. these officers are chasing this person down the crowded street. as the chase went on for a few yards, but the suspect reached underneath his jacket. he withdrew a tech 9 automatic pistol. he was running down broadway and took the weapon and he there to scare the officer, and pointed the pistol right at officer. officer jones, seeing the threat to the officer and everyone else nearby, fired a shot to protect an officer. almost immediately after that,

officer tapang was able to catch up with the suspect and wrestle him to the ground, and they were able to take the suspect into custody and secure the pistol. when they checked the weapon they found it had 22 rounds of ammunition in the magazine. so it was clearly a catastrophe waiting to happen as these officers took action. they could have taken a defensive position. they could have taken cover and employed officer safety tactics, but instead, the move to forward to take action to protect their lives, the other officer lives, and hundreds of others on broadway at that time. clearly what they did was an act of heroism and very courageous under the circumstances there were facing. they were outgunned. so without a doubt, officers tapang and brian jones prevented

serious injury or a life that night. for that reason they are being presented a bronze medal of valor. [applause]

commander beall will read the citations for sergeant manning. -- commander biel. it will be lots of times for photo opportunities after. >> good evening, everybody. i have the pleasure of introducing our sergeant dani el manning. there was a probation search on the home of a resident who was known to be armed and dangerous

and narcotics trafficker. in the course of performing duties, sgt manning encounter the suspect with a gun in his hand. in the days prior to the incident, sgt manning learned the resident of 60 kashmir, was dealing narcotics out of the residents. they conducted an investigation and learn a resident of 60 kashmir was robert hackert, a man with a history of violence in numerous felony convictions. on the morning of february 16, a team of officers who set up outside the apartment to conduct a probation search. once it was determined that sector was in sight, the officer's watch for several hours as this aspect -- suspects came and left sparking a suspicion that he was engaged in narcotics trafficking that day. there was a female suspect that the brought to children inside

the suspected drug house. at 10:30 hours he emerged from the front door and had a cell phone conversation before going back inside. at 11:30 a male subjects and to the house and officers took the time of advantage to make their approach to the front door and yelled out police, a provision search and enter the residence. manning encountered heckert walking down a hallway toward him. manning sa anw a concerning said. he sought a loaded gun in his hand. he instinctively call that gun to officers and anyone else. he grabbed for the gun, and they were engaged in locked in hand- to-hand combat. heckert pulled him into our rear bedroom and they struggled for

control of the weapon. they flipped over a corner of the bed. manning was able to land on top of him and tried to pin him against the wall between the bed in order to control his arm. that is when the situation went from bad from worse as he grabbed active-duty gun and try to pull it from the holster. manning called for help and alerted the other officers that he was going for his gun. the other officers responded into the room. macmillan jumped into the struggle and pointed the gun at his head. he stated, let it go, or i will shoot. heckert let the get go. the officers took him into custody and saw fire arm that was formally in his hand was now under his body. when they lifted him up, they saw even more disturbing, a three-month old baby was on the

bed to feet from where the two men had just been engaged in a violent struggle. manning told him that they were there for a provision search, and were still undeterred from his mission. hector stated that he had the gun for his own protection. he continued to search your the bed and found another weapon. a semi-automatic loaded pistol just a few feet from the scene of the bike. in this situation, i believe the courage and fortitude the sergeant manning displayed here not only save his life, the lead of his partners, and the life of the three-month old child on the bed, and for that he is being

awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] >> sergeant orkes will read the

citation. >> good evening. please allow me to introduce three members of the san francisco police department that i am proud to call heroes. sgt josh espinoza, officer ha, and officer solorzano. december 31, this batch had a call that a vehicle was on fire at 1645 folsom street and indicated -- they did not indicate if anyone was in the car or not. car or not. sgt espinoza was the first unit